Zhao Lijian Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

China's Foreign Ministry on Monday blasted the US House of Representatives' so-called America Competes Act, which is largely focused on China, saying that the bill's content regarding China is full of cold-war, zero-sum game mentality and slanders China's development path and domestic and foreign policies.

"The US should view China's development and China-US relations objectively and rationally, delete negative China-related content in the bill, stop deliberating and advancing it, and stop undermining China-US ties and cooperation in key areas," Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry told a regular press conference on Monday.

The comments come as the US House of Representatives on Friday passed the bill, namely the America Competes Act, of which Democrats say will increase US semiconductor manufacturing and boost American competitiveness with China. 

The bill started as a bipartisan push to bolster US manufacturing and research, but it has been mired in long-standing partisanship concerning US policy on China. The bill has to pass both chambers before it can be sent to the White House for US President Joe Biden's signature.

The 2,900-page legislation authorizes nearly $300 billion for research and development, including $52 billion to subsidize semiconductor manufacturing and research into the key components used in automobiles and computers. It also allocates $45 billion over six years to ease supply-chain problems that have exacerbated shortages, Reuters reported. 

Observers and semiconductor industry insiders said that the bill is an indication that the US has gone deeper into its China containment obsession.

The spokesperson said how the US develops and improvse its "competitiveness" is the US' own business, calling on Washington to stop making an issue out of China and use it as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs and harm China's interests. 

The bill once again laid bare that the US' hegemony and bullying tactics is fundamentally contrary to the trend of the times and the aspirations of the global pursuit of peace, development and cooperation, and will only harm the US' own interests in the end, Zhao said.

Global Times